Please Don't Leave
by swanqueenbae
Summary: Emma and Regina grow closer as Emma struggles with life and has to make some life threatening decisions.
1. Chapter 1

"Bye Henry, have a good day at school!" Regina said, giving her son a kiss on the cheek as he got onto the school bus.

"I'll see you this afternoon, Mom" Henry said, with his genuine smile that his mother loved so much.

She watched him find his seat and waited for the bus to drive away before making her way to Granny's. She walked in and took a seat at the counter.

"Morning Mayor Mills," Granny said, "would you like your usual?" Regina nodded as the kind woman poured her a mug full of black coffee. Regina sipped the coffee as soon as she could get her hands on it.

"Do you have anything stronger behind that counter, Granny? The coffee's great but something tells me I'm going to need more than coffee to help me to get through this day," Regina said with a tone of dread.

"Have some tough things on your schedule for today Mayor Mills?" Granny said with a slight chuckle.

"Yes you could definitely say that... I would much rather lock myself in my house and binge watch AHS on this fine day." Regina said, taking a gulp of black coffee.

The mayor sipped it while reading the newspaper, but was interrupted as someone had sat down on the stool directly next to Regina, even though every other stool at the counter and table in the restaurant was empty. She looked up and her eyes met with those of Emma Swan.

They stared at each other for a moment before Emma finally said, "Regina, we need to talk."

Regina nodded and they walked into the back room of the diner. They continued down a hallway and into a small sitting room with one, outdated, mustard colored sofa. They both sat down in their usual spots on the sofa. The two woman would come here whenever they had to speak privately about Henry or Operation Mongoose. They had been coming to this room more often recently just to get away from some of the nosey people in Storybrooke who asked too many questions about their friendship. There wasn't anything romantic going on between the savior and the mayor at the moment, but rumors were beginning to spread.

"Regina, where have you been? Last I heard, someone had seen Gold put a sleeping curse on you and kept you inprisoned in your lair. Are you okay? What happened?" Emma asked with her forehead scrunching up as it did when she was worried.

Regina took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves over what she needed to tell Emma. "Emma, something happened while Gold had me trapped in the lair..." she paused; Emma was trying so hard to hide her worry, but she was failing miserably. "I learned some information about what Gold plans to do to bring back his happy ending and those plans revolve around you."

Emma's brow furrowed and she sat up straight, "Does this have to do with my potential for becoming evil?" she asked in a quivering voice.

Regina nodded slowly, "Gold plans on using me to turn you to the darkness," she stopped talking and grabbed Emma's hands, holding them tightly. Regina looked Emma in the eyes, "But trust me, I will do whatever it takes to make sure that you aren't turned evil. I care about you too much to see you hurt in that way, Emma. I won't let Gold turn you into a monster like he did to me."

Emma was speechless; the emotions she was feeling at the moment were too overwhelming for her. She was feeling extremely scared because she knew what Gold was capable of, but she was also feeling very grateful for Regina. How was it that this woman sitting next to her was willing to "do whatever it took" to make sure she remained safe. Emma was also feeling another emotion that she couldn't explain, but she felt it deep inside her heart whenever she looked into Regina's eyes.

Regina noticed Emma's chin starting to quiver, and she knew exactly what was going through the savior's head. Before the first tear rolled out of Emma's eye, Regina pulled her into a tight embrace. She wrapped her arms around the shaking body of the savior and cradled her head. She could hear the quiet, hiccuping sobs of Emma and her heart broke. _Why did it have to be this way? It wasn't fair, Emma hadn't done anything to deserve this. All Emma ever did was try to give people their happy endings and all that had gotten her was a fate of turning to darkness._Regina was devastated at the fact that Emma was in such pain and distress over her current situation.

"Emma, I know this is extremely difficult and I know that this is terrifying, but we will get through this. I won't let them hurt you." Regina's voice cracked as she tried to hold back her own tears. "I won't let them hurt you," she said again, this time in a whisper, while she held Emma. By now, Emma was completely leaning against Regina and was totally engulfed in her embrace. They rocked back in forth, both crying, while Regina continually whispered,

_"I won't let them hurt you_

_I won't let them hurt you_

_I won't let them hurt you_

_I won't let them hurt you_

_I won't let them hurt you"_

When Regina eventually stopped she resorted to simply holding the trembling body. After a few minutes of silence Emma slowly stood up and turned as if she was about to walk out of the room, but something was stopping her. She sat back down on the couch and faced Regina head on. Emma grabbed the mayors two hands, leaned in, and pressed her lips against Regina's. The savior kissed the mayor and she thought she had felt the mayor kiss her back.


	2. Chapter 2

After Emma had kissed Regina, she had quickly left the diner out of sheer adrenaline and a whole lot of embarrassment. Her nerves were racking as she realized what she had just done. As soon as she had kissed the mayor, Emma had quickly left the room, without looking back. She was scared at what Regina's reaction would be. The two were friends and nothing more than that.

Their relationship had encountered many bumps along the way and it was only a year ago that Regina would have done anything to rip Emma's heart out. Regina had sacrificed so much to help Emma and Emma had done the same for Regina. That alone was one of the reasons Emma had decided to kiss Regina. Unfortunately, Emma didn't obtain the courage to stay and see how Regina would respond. Kissing your ex-enemy and the adoptive mother or your son is never easy.

Emma was almost at the door to her yellow Volkswagen bug and she unlocked the door. Just as she was about to get into the driver's seat, she head someone call her name from behind.

"Emma! Just wait one second! I know I'm the last person you want to talk to, but please listen to me," it was Mary Margaret. She put her hand on Emma's shoulder. Emma was frozen, with her hand on the door and she was still facing away from her mother.

"Emma, can you at least hear me out for one minute?" Mary Margaret begged.

"Not not, mom. I really need to be alone right now." Emma replied, trying not to get angry. She had been struggling with her relationship with her parents after they had kept a secret about Maleficent's child from Emma and had also lied to her for quite some time. She started to get into her car, but Snow pulled on her shoulder, forcing her to turn around. Mary Margaret was taken aback at the sight of Emma's face. Her eyes were red, and watery and her face was creased with worry.

"Emma...? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Snow said in a concerned whisper. She hated seeing how hurt Emma had seemed for the past few days. As angry as Emma was at her mother, something inside her craved the comforting words Mary Margaret always seemed to have ready. Without saying a word, Emma shrugged herself out of her grasp, got in her car. She drove away as her vision blurred with tears once again.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Meanwhile, Regina was still in the sitting room attached to the diner mulling over in her head what had just happened. Above everything else, Regina was in disbelief. First of all, Emma was dating Killian and it had appeared that their relationship had been progressing. But apparently she had been wrong because Emma had just laid her lips on Regina's. The second reason Regina was in disbelief was because she had been secretly wanting to kiss Emma too and it was unreal that it had actually happened.

She stood up from the unfortunately colored, mustard couch and decided to find Emma. Her heart hadn't stopped pounding since they had kissed. She walked out of the diner but was stopped as she noticed Henry's school bus pull up.

"How long where we in that sitting room?" Regina thought as Henry ran down the steps. "Hi mom! You're actually on time to pick me up from the bus! Thanks! I was thinking, maybe if we catch the Author...-" Henry continued to ramble on about his ideas about stopping the Queens of Darkness and Mr. Gold and as hard as Regina tried to listen to him she just couldn't. Her mind kept floating to the memory of Emma's gentle lips on hers, and the way she smelled of leather and a hint of sweet perfume. She thought about the way Emma had been grasping her hands so tightly while their lips brushed together.

"Mom? You seem kinda distracted... Did you hear what I said?" Henry asked?

"Ya sorry Henry, I've had a lot on my mind ever since Gold trapped me in my lair.

"Well, I was asking if I could stay with Emma tonight just to form some plans with her about how to defeat Gold?" Henry asked with a smile and a little tilt of his head.

"Yes I think that would be a good idea! I can drop you off after dinner." Regina said, putting her arm around Henry as they walked to her car.

"So what did you do today mom?" Henry asked once he had gotten settled in the passenger seat. Regina stiffened and her grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Oh you know, the usual duties required of the mayor of Storybrooke." Regina said, forcing a smile.

"Ya? Like what kind of "duties"?" Henry asked.

"Um well I avoided some catastrophes and uh, hmm I worked on fixing the problems with someone in town." Regina said.

"Nice! Did you fix whatever problem that person had?" Henry asked

Regina was silent for a moment before saying, "You know what Henry, I think I she may have made the problem bigger." Her palms were sweating and her heart was still pounding. What were these feelings welling up inside her?


	3. Chapter 3

After spending a few hours at Regina's home finishing up his homework, Henry packed a backpack of clothes and other necessities before he was to go to Emma's house. Regina gently tapped on Henry's door.

"Ready to go Henry?"she asked him. He nodded and they got into her car and took the ride to the apartment the Emma shared with her family. Regina stopped the car in the small parking area.

Henry got out of the car and was about to run into the home when he noticed Regina putting the car in park and get out of the car as well.

"Mom... What are you doing? I can walk myself in," he said with a soft smile and little twitch in his head.

"I know, Henry, I'm just going to come in and say hello to Emma and her parents."

Mother in son walked into the building and made their way to the Charming's family door. Henry opened the door, calling "Hello?"

They walked into the home and were greeted by an empty room.

"Is anybody home? Mom? Grandma and Grandpa?" He called through the apartment.

Henry and Regina turned when they heard footsteps on the metal staircase leading up to Emma's room.

"Henry, Regina, what are you doing here?" It was David.

"Um we are just here to drop Henry off so he can spend some time with Emma... Is she not here?" Regina responded.

David's forehead creased the same way Emma's did when she was worried or anxious.

"There seems to be a slight, uh, situation regarding Emma," he started, "She and Mary Margaret had a quick encounter this morning and it seems that Emma still has hard feelings against us. She never came home and we are unsure of her whereabouts." He was wringing his hands back and forth, a sorry attempt to try and hide his worry.

Regina registered all of this before asking, "Well, where is Mary Margaret?"

"She is out looking for Emma, she's been searching for the past hour or so. I stayed here with baby Neal."

"The past hour?! Why didn't anyone call me? Of course Emma is not going to want to be found by her mother, the very woman she is trying to avoid. Henry, you stay here. I'm going to go find Emma."

Henry started to object that he wanted to look for her to, but Regina held up her hand to silence him.

She held his face, "I know you want to help, but this is something that I need to do alone. It would be better if you stayed here with David and Neal." She kissed his forward and rushed out the door.

••••••••••••••••••••

"Emma? Please pick up your phone! This is the seventh voicemail I've left you. I just need to know you are okay. Call me." Regina had been walking in the woods for a good thirty minutes and her high heel were caked in mud. She heard some leaves rustling behind her.

"Emma! Is that you?!" She swung around but was met with the face of someone other than who she expected.

"Oh Mary Margaret. I had hoped you would be Emma." Regina said, her face downcast. "Have you had any luck?"

Snow shook her head "None yet; I just figured she would be out here in the woods somewhere. This is where she tends to go when she wants to be alone or something like that."

Regina started to say something, but then stopped herself.

"Where do you think we should look after we search for Emma here?" Mary Margaret inquired.

"Yeah, about that... Mary Margaret," Regina stopped walking and turned toward the woman, looking her in the eyes. "I don't want you to take this in the wrong way at all, but I think it would be best if maybe I looked for Emma by myself." Before Mary Margaret could object, Regina continued. "I know she is your daughter and all, but I think Emma would be more willing to be found if it was just me looking for her."

"Absolutely not, I am her mother. I am the reason she is hiding and I should be the one to find her and make things right with her." Mary Margaret said as she started walking again. "What even makes you think Emma wants to be found by you? It wasn't all that long ago you wanted to poison her and see her dead! There is no way in hell I'm just going to sit back and watch you try to find my daughter."

"Mary Margaret, please stop walking. Can we please just talk about this a little more." Regina pleaded.

Snow continued walking without looking back. Regina took a deep breath; she broke out into a cold sweat and her hands were trembling.

"Emma kissed me." Regina said. She had meant for it to come out louder so that Snow (who was now a good distance away from her) would hear her clearly. But the words had come out of her mouth quietly and shaky.

Mary Margaret stopped walking "What did you just say?" She asked, her back still facing away from Regina.

"She kissed me." Regina repeated.

Mary Margaret turned around and walked up to Regina. "What do you mean she kissed you? When? Why?"

Regina tried to calm her nerves as she tried to explain, "I don't know why she did it. She had been really upset this morning about some things she is dealing with at the moment so I had been comforting her. And then she just kissed me while we were sitting in that old, dusty back room at Granny's."

Mary Margaret covered her mouth with her hand either in contemplation or shock, Regina wasn't sure what emotion she was trying to portray.

She continued, "I think that is part of why Emma is hiding. She doesn't know what she is feeling right now and she needs to get away. That's why I need to find her myself. I'm the only person who can relate to her right now because I guarantee Emma and I are feeling the same way right now."

Mary Margaret couldn't argue that. Without saying a word, she walked back to her car and drove home. Regina got into her own car and headed down the road to the center of Storybrooke. She knew exactly where Emma was.


	4. Chapter 4

The mayor maneuvered her car down the main street of Storybrooke and parked across the street from Granny's. Looking down the street of the Maine town, she could see the magnificent pinks and oranges painted throughout the clouds as the sun was setting.

She took a deep breath in an attempt to slow her pounding heart. In few moments, she would have to face the woman who had opened up to her emotionally and had kissed her.

Regina stepped out of her Benz, locked the door and strolled across the street. The door jingled as she swung it open and was greeted by Granny, who was wiping off the counter. The diner was mostly empty, except for Grumpy who was sitting at the counter with a shot of whiskey.

"Mayor Mills, care for a cup of decaf?" Granny asked, noticing the mayor was not in need for any caffeine.

Regina fidgeted with her purse, "Um no thank you. I'm just going to retrieve my umbrella from the back room. It would appear I left it there this morning."

"I see," Granny side with a twinkle in her eye, "Well tell Emma I will bring her some dinner in about a half hour while you're back there."

"Excuse me? You know that Emma is back there?" Regina asked

Granny nodded. "Emma said she needed to be alone for a little while and not to tell Mary Margaret where she was. I had to lie to that poor woman when she came in earlier today. She has been frantically searching for Emma all day."

"Did she say anything about me by any chance?" Regina asked nervously.

Granny winked, "She said that if you showed up, I didn't have to lie about her whereabouts."

Regina walked with her head down into the back room, trying to suppress a growing grin. She came to the back room and noticed the door was mostly closed, a slim space kept the room from being completely shut out. Regina placed her eye over the crack and peered into the room.

She saw the horrendous sofa and the dusty room, but what her eyes were glued to was Emma sitting on that couch. She had her long, blonde hair draped around her shoulders bare shoulders. Her tank top was drooping off one of her shoulders a little bit. The sight caused Regina's heart to skip a beat or two.

She gently knocked on the door as she pushed it open, "Emma?" the mayor whispered in a shaky voice.

Emma turned around and met her sad eyes with Regina's. She had clearly been crying again and all Regina wanted to do was wrap her arms around Emma and protect her from every bad thing in this world.

"Oh Emma, what's wrong?" Regina said; she found herself on the verge of tears at the sight of seeing Emma so upset.

"I don't know what to do! I am angry at my parents still and I don't understand what I've been feeling. I cant stop thinking about you. I thought that maybe spending the past few hours by myself thinking would help me to figure out my emotions, but all I know is that I'm more confused and upset." Emma said. She wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them to her chest.

Regina walked over to her and sat next to her on the couch. She wasn't sure if embracing Emma would make her feel better or worse, so she decided to sit close to her, so their shoulders were rubbing on each other. "Well, let's start with where this all started… why did you kiss me?" she asked anxiously.

Emma looked up at Regina's face, but then quickly avoided eye contact. She wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye before replying, "After we had been hugging and you had been telling me you wanted to protect me, I really wanted to tell you how- well- how appreciative I am for you. But I couldn't find the words. When I looked at your face, the only thing I wanted to do was to… to kiss you." Emma said slowly.

Regina was at a lost for words. How was she supposed to respond to that? Emma took a breath and began speaking again, but she was forced to stop when she realized Regina's lips were pressed against her own. Regina had practically thrown herself onto Emma. Emma leaned back onto the couch and Regina followed her so now the two women were laying side by side, fervently kissing each other.

Emma put her hand behind Regina's head and pulled her closer, so she could kiss her harder. The mayor opened her mouth slightly and felt the savior's tongue make its way around the roof of her mouth

Regina wrapped her arms around Emma's back and pulled her onto of her body. Emma's torso was pressed against Regina's chest and she started breathing heavily.

Emma suddenly began to feel a warmth in her abdomen. She felt as if someone had lit a gentle fire within her and a shock moved through her body.

"What is happening?" Emma breathed, as she moved her mouth over Regina's neck. "Do you feel that?"

"Yes I do. What we are feeling is magic. I can't explain why it is happening, but it is. A force of magic is being built between us." Regina said in between kisses.

"What does that even mean?" Emma said as she started making out with the queen and unbuttoning her blouse.

Regina was about to answer, but suddenly they heard a noise like something was shattering. The two women sprang up and were met by a very confused and surprised looking Granny. She had been carrying a plate of grilled cheese, but upon seeing Emma and Regina passionately make out, she had dropped it on the floor.

"I can explain!" Emma exclaimed.

"Really Emma? Can you really explain why we were just on top of each other and you were unbuttoning my top?" Regina said, almost laughing at the awkwardness of the situation.

Emma realized her ridiculousness and her face grew red.

Without even cleaning up the grilled cheese or the shattered plate, Granny rushed out of the room.

Before they could help it, Emma and Regina burst out into laughter. They laughed until tears were streaming down their faces and their abdomens ached.

"Oh God, how are ever going to be able to face Granny again?!" Regina said in between laughter.

"The poor woman is probably scarred for life!" Emma exclaimed trying to get her laughter under control.

Regina abruptly grabbed Emma's hand and pulled it to her chest. The severity of the grab caused both woman to stop laughing and they looked into each other's eyes. "Emma what we felt a little while ago was truly magic. We formed a bond, a _magic_ bond and a bond like that is almost impossible to break. There is something connecting us and if you are willing, I would like to find out what it is." Regina said sincerely

Emma wasn't sure she entirely understood all this talk of "magic bonds" and "connections" but she nodded. "I think I can feel a connection between us too."

"Good," Regina said. "Then meet me here tomorrow morning. I need to go to let your parents and Henry know you are alright."

Regina got up from the yellow couch, kissed Emma on the lips and then walked out the door.


End file.
